The July/August issue is here! Inside: .- Reflections on Pope Leo XIV.- A short story by Elina Kumra, winner of the Commonweal Prize for Short Fiction.- Eugene McCarraher on Ross Douthat and Jordan Peterson .And much more! .

"Just as we can only receive God’s forgiveness if we desire it, so those who have hurt us can receive our forgiveness only if they want it.". Stephen J. Pope on Ukraine and Christian forgiveness: .

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"Love fueled Baldwin’s creativity, but this wasn’t always the sort of love that orients us toward goodness and truth.". Vincent Lloyd on James Baldwin and the power of love: .

"Second-term Trump has put me in mind of former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet.". Susan B. Reynolds offers lessons from Chile for a perilous time: .

The reason King is so frequently misread has less to do with his Black identity than with his Christian identity.

"Documentation is a form of justice. Undocumented migrants and asylum seekers often lack access to the kind of everyday record-keeping most citizens take for granted.". Susan B. Reynolds on Trump, the Church, and "documentary accompaniment": .

RT @NickFreiling: This is a great piece.

Trump has shown us—painfully, unmistakably—that politics can become a total work of art.

"I don’t see how contemporary Catholics, immersed in the world of modern American commerce and exposed to an essentially anarchic popular culture, will be able to fold themselves back into religiously exclusive communities." — Paul Baumann .

Phil Christman: The worldview underlying capitalist economic thinking is one that Christians simply cannot accept.

"The Balkans are the graveyard of empires, and for all its exceptionalism, America would be no exception.". Eric Grube on the Trump administration's adventures in the Balkans: .

"It is unlikely that even good evangelical programs can significantly combat the powerful cultural and economic forces that are driving Americans away from the churches.". Paul Baumann on a crisis in religious transmission: .

RT @tony_domestico: For the weekend crowd, my August column for @commonwealmag on campus novels, including an excellent new one by Emily Ad….

In 2024, Trump made gains among men of all ages, races, and most religious persuasions. But he also made significant inroads among some women—especially Catholic women. Analysis from @HeidiSchlumpf: .

Cradle Catholics are defecting from the faith in extraordinary numbers. Are cohesive religious communities the answer? . A new column by Paul Baumann: .

"Francis restored to Catholic reflection a neglected element: the dynamic of desire. His reading of politics was never coldly technocratic.". @antoniospadaro: Pope Francis made room for the reasons of the heart.

Are Catholic women turning to Trump? . @HeidiSchlumpf: The gender gap narrows as MAGAism is normalized.

"The Church has long cast a skeptical eye on the sort of sectarianism implicit in walling off Catholics from the larger world.". Paul Baumann: Are Catholic enclaves the answer to a crisis in religious transmission? .

RT @kitwilsonwriter: I'm in this, reviewing Liz Pelly's recent book on the history of Spotify (link in next tweet).

RT @tony_domestico: For my August column @commonwealmag, I wrote about two campus novels: a new one by Emily Adrian and a reissued one by T….

Tragically, James Baldwin’s most incisive and most beautiful writing was fueled not by love but by lovelessness. Vincent Lloyd reviews Nicholas Boggs's 'Baldwin: A Love Story': .